William B. Cassidy | Apr 20, 2011 12:35PM EDT
Strong heavy-duty truck sales drove first-quarter revenue up 47 percent to $3.28 billion at Paccar. Excluding financial services, net sales were up 53 percent.
The manufacturer's net profit soared 183 percent, rising from $68.3 million a year ago to $193.3 million. Higher utilization of truck facilities increased gross margins.
Economic recovery fueled Paccar's truck sales in North America and Europe, said Chairman and CEO Mark Pigott. The company is expanding in South America.
"Our on-highway customers are benefiting from increased freight tonnage and freight rates which are driving improved fleet productivity," said Pigott.
Paccar builds and sells Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks in the U.S. and DAF trucks in Europe. The truck brands are sold in other overseas markets as well.
From the manufacturing floor, the trucking business has rarely looked better.
Net orders for heavy trucks jumped 20.2 percent in March to 29,200 units, the largest monthly order number since May 2006, according to ACT Research.
From October through January, monthly net tractor orders increased 44 percent.
Daimler Truck North America in March raised its sales forecast for 2010 by 10 to 15 percentage points, predicting 30 to 35 percent year-over-year growth.
-- Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @Wbcassidy_joc.